Haunted Mansion: Providing New Paths for Guests with Mobility Challenges

There's a whole new angle to experiencing the Haunted Mansion 

at The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.

With all of the excitement of the addition of an interactive queue to the Haunted Mansion, little notice has been given to a very big change for Guests needing mobile assistance. Now they can go through the entire queuing experience, and therefore, the entire Haunted Mansion attraction.

To understand what this means, let's understand what happened prior. You'll recall that there was a turnstile limiting access toward the entrance to the attraction. Guests with disabilities were detoured around the ghost hearse outside the mansion. From there they were back doored a couple of different ways depending on their ability to move from their wheel chair or convenience vehicle. Depending on their ability, they might miss the first portion of the attraction.

Things are very different now. First of all, they go through the regular queue. Like other Guests, they have the option of visiting the interactive queue, or simply moving directly into the foyer.

Plenty of space is available to move through 

the interactive crypt area of the queue.

From there they move into the stretch room where they experience that portion of the visit. Afterwards they experience a Cast Member who then gives them the option of walking from there to their doom buggy, or going back out and around to the exit where they can board from the exit of the doom buggy as had been done in the past. The benefit to all guests is that this reduces greatly the number of times the attraction will slow down or stop.

A new exit for the convenience vehicles and wheelchairs 

to be brought out to Guests leaving the attraction.

But there's a down side as well. First is the peculiarity of seeing multiple convenience vehicles in the first rooms of the Haunted Mansion. The problem with that is that the rooms are very dark, especially if coming from the light of day. It's one thing to accidentally step on another's foot. It's another thing to being ran over by a wheel. It's difficult not to run into others in this space.

I felt the Cast Members were terrific at giving options to the Guests. When I was there, there weren't too many funneling into the single queue stretch that led to the Doom Buggies.  But I have been there when it's been crammed full of people exiting the stretch rooms. I wonder how easy it will be to deal with Guests needing mobility assistance in that setting.

A bigger issue came when we boarded the Doom Buggy. I happened to be behind someone who had been in a convenience vehicle and had left that vehicle to board the Doom Buggy. His disability may have been a more temporary one, as he had a sort of shoe similar to a ski boot--probably acting as a sort of cast--and it was not too obvious that he had a difficulty walking. But when he stepped onto the moving walkway, he nearly slipped and fell. If he had entered from the exit, they would have known to slow or stop the walkway. Coming from this direction they couldn't tell him from anyone else, and thus unable to monitor the situation appropriately. I couldn't help think that the experience could have been awful.

I'm confident that if these issues can be addressed, the imagineers and operators of the Haunted Mansion will figure it out. No one handles Guests with disabilities better than Disney. Still, the Haunted Mansion is a unique physical space. It isn't just about widening queues and removing turnstiles. It's about creating a seamless experience.

By the way, there's more on this interactive queue and the names written in stone on the graveside markers when you click here.